


Vulpinroid 1.0

by AdmiralPrower



Series: Vulpinroid [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: AI, Body Horror, Gen, Military Science Fiction, Science Fiction, Tails is a robot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28356303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdmiralPrower/pseuds/AdmiralPrower
Summary: Lieutenant Miles "Tails" Prower was the information warfare officer of the British space destroyer HMSS Thunder Child. But on a July day in 2111, the destroyer was hit by the opening shots of a war made by an unknown enemy. He has gone from #5 in the chain of command to captain with Earth five days away and the enemy in hot pursuit. Command will transform him in more ways than one.
Relationships: Miles "Tails" Prower/Maria Robotnik
Series: Vulpinroid [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936759
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**HMSS** **_Thunder Child_ **

**Sol System, near 19521 Chaos**

**12 July 2111**

“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of His Majesty’s space destroyer _Thunder Child_. Her five-day mission, to find some Acornian pirate base. To seek out rocks and more rocks. To boldly go where nobody would want to go.” Leading Information Specialist Paul Stryker grumbled as he stretched in his seat.

“You see that’s where you’re wrong.” Chief Information Specialist James Jago countered with a soft snort. He was holding one of the coffee carafes in his hand and tipped it so that coffee poured into Stryker’s mug. “We’re boldly going where the Navy tells us to go.”

“We’re doing doughnuts in the vacuum because someone thinks the Acornians are hiding in Sol.” Stryker rolled his eyes as he took a sip from his mug.

“I happen to agree with that someone, Mr. Stryker, so does SOLSUS.” A new voice cut into the gripe session and Stryker raised his eyes up, instinctively feeling the gaze of his department head upon him. The department head was eighteen-year-old Lieutenant Miles “Tails” Prower and he was the information warfare officer of the _Thunder Child_ since her commissioning, a plankowner. Prower was responsible overall for the operation and maintenance of the ship’s communication systems, as well as electronic warfare and intelligence. A destroyer with its smaller size in both hull and crew made for a jack-of-all-trades out of junior officers, who would go on to serve as division officers on larger ships before eventually becoming department heads on said ships. Even Commander Zincks, the captain of the _Thunder Child_ , would likely end up as first lieutenant on a cruiser before taking command of one.

“It just doesn’t make sense, how could they have set something up out here without being noticed, sir?” Stryker asked after another swallow of coffee. The lieutenant took the carafe from Chief Jago and poured coffee into his own mug, setting the carafe back into the coffee maker nearby. Prower rested his elbows on top of Stryker’s console and sniffed at the coffee before taking a sip of his own, the vulpinoid’s two tails slowly swinging back and forth like a metronome.

“For one thing, this is the first time we’ve checked out here since SOLSUS got laid out. Before SOLSUS we basically shotgunned probes at different headings hoping to get a hit. Took time to get returns back, took time to process and analyse. We also operated on the assumption along the lines of ‘Kepler First’, that they were hiding within Kepler-22 itself. Which to be fair, that did bear some actionable sightings but we never found any motherbase. If this bears fruit, I could paint you a very pretty picture as to what King Frederick did.” Prower raised his ears. “If it’s true, he’s a clever little blighter. That whole rocket launch he did was probably a decoy and he likely hid on Kepler, had his remnants funneling raw material, information and funds to him until they could get off planet. Then they take off for some rock in Sol and colonise it, make a profit and start acquiring ships. After all-“

“The idea of the Acornians somehow sustaining their own space program in exile starting at absolute zero is bollocks.” Chief Jago cut in, getting a sustaining shrug from the Keplerian officer.

“As Chief says, starting from zero made no sense. That also explains why every ship we come across is an Earth origin design. Why reinvent the wheel?” Prower continued. “Once they had enough ships and weapons, that’s when they started popping up hijacking other ships and kidnapping people on both sides of the Warp Gate. They set things up to where we’d waste time trying to find their motherbase in Kepler-22 or beyond, laughing at us while they cranked out some of those new corsairs that have been giving us a headache.”

“Well Weapons Department’ll give them a headache of their own if you’re right, Lieutenant.” Stryker leaned back in his seat. “Only problem is what are we going to do after we’ve blown them all up? More doughnuts in space?”

“Maybe some deep space exploration and establishment. Revenue duties, there’s still a good deal to do in the RSN.” The vulpine advised.

“Well, so long as they send us off to the tropics for a week after this.” Jago quipped.

“Too right, Chief.” Stryker yawned.

“Can’t guarantee that but once we’re back in port, put in a leave chit and I’ll see what I can do. You’re all doing well considering the monotony.” Prower said, raising his voice when delivering the last statement. “Carry on.”

“Aye, sir.” Stryker rolled his chair back up to his console. Lieutenant Prower walked over to his own console and sat down. Opening a drawer, the vulpine pulled out a pair of wireless earbuds and fitted them into his ears. Unlocking the computer terminal, he made an outbound video call request. The request, encrypted as all inbound and outbound traffic was, routed to its destination on the Earth orbital station ARK through transmission amplifier relays. Soon the screen displayed a video feed of a blonde-haired human woman who was in the process of setting her phone on a cradle. In her other hand was a bottle of formula which a small pair of hands was reaching for. Those hands belonged to a baby who on first glimpse might have passed for being completely human, except for the blonde furred vulpine ears atop of her head. Prower waggled his index finger at the baby and smiled, ears twitching.

“Who’s that? Is that Daddy?” The woman asked the baby.

“Hello darlings.” Lieutenant Prower leaned forward. “Where’s Arthur?”

“Sleeping, he spent most of the day throwing his bottle. Then again, what is new there? He’s been beside himself since you left.” Surgeon Lieutenant Maria Robotnik-Prower sighed as she gave the baby her bottle finally. “You don’t throw yours though, Artemis. Much better behaved than your brother, aren’t we?”

“I miss you.” Tails said quietly. “All three of you. I know it’s only been a week and I know I’m in-system, but all things considered, I’d rather be back on the ARK. We’re likely going to see action.”

“Do you think you’re up to it?” Maria asked, watching her husband’s face carefully.

“I wouldn’t be broken up if we ended up killing King Frederick and his cronies. No boarding action, no fuss.” Tails sighed. “I’m only glad I’m not on any boarding teams for this one.”

“You’ll do fine.” Maria smiled reassuringly. “And in another week, you’ll be back here. I suppose once the shooting’s over you can occupy yourself on those five days back thinking about what I might end up doing to you.”

“Behave yourself.” The vulpine’s face flushed.

“I don’t think I will.” Maria smirked. “Oh! Almost forgot, once your patrol ends you’re getting a new GDMO.”

“How do you know that?” Tails narrowed his eyes.

“Simple, it’s me.” Maria’s smile intensified.

“You’ve finally decided to put your toe in the water? Are you sure you’re ready to go from the rush-rush-rush of Emergency to handing out ibuprofen and water bottles?” The vulpine tilted his head.

“I’ll actually get to know the members of my patient census at least.” Maria reached up to the back of her head and undid the hair tie. “Also, a married couple can live in quarters together on ship.”

“It means your grandparents would be looking after the children.” Tails blinked. “Are they all right with that?”

“Actually Mum and Dad wanted to look after them.” Maria’s face flushed.

“Well that works out nicely.” The fox sighed.

“They think the world of you.”

“I know. I just wish my father would get the stick out of his arse.”

“He came to the wedding at least.” Maria reminded him. “He’s still a bit icy, I know but he loves the twins.”

“Hm.” Tails wrinkled his nose. “We’ll see.” Then he noticed a red flashing item in the taskbar. “Sorry dear, have to cut this off. Getting a priority action message.”

“Right! I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you, Miles.”

“I love you too, Maria.” Tails ended the call and clicked on the action message, which was a video chat request from HMSS _Glowworm_ , another destroyer that joined them in the mission. A purple bodied Keplerian walrus eyed him, wearing the same uniform that the vulpine wore. “Hello there, Rotor.”

“Are you having any computer problems?” Rotor asked.

“Not that I’m aware of.” The fox stood up. “Chief, I’d like a live system status check.”

“Right, sir.” Chief Jago replied. “We are at EMCON 4. Firewalls are up, antimalware systems are up, on-site backups were completed a half hour ago. Off-site backups are being transmitted in bursts. Performance indicators and trend analysis suggest there we are operating at peak performance.”

“We seem to be okay.” Tails confirmed after examining his own status board. “Trouble?”

“Since our last SOLSUS sync, everything’s been running slowly, noticeably. Local and network-based processes are dragging.” Rotor reported. “We stopped and did a complete restart and there was no change.”

“Sounds like you picked something up, yeah.” The fox nodded.

“I almost want to do a complete wipe and reload.”

“Oh I bet Captain D’Coolette loves that idea.” Tails rolled his eyes.

“You called it. Slow is unacceptable but he doesn’t want to bog the _Glowworm_ down for a complete reset and recycle.”

“So you want me to come over there to see if I can figure out what’s wrong.”

“You’re the best IWO in the entire navy, Tails. You’re the one that took me under your wing after I graduated.” Rotor gave him a pleading smile.

“Assuming the captain okays it, I’ll come over. You’ll owe me.” The fox raised his index finger.

“I already got the necessary tax from the supply officer.” Rotor raised a bag of Three Musketeers miniature chocolates.

“Deal. Wait one.” The fox grabbed a red telephone-style handset. “IWO, bridge.”

“This is the captain.” A female voice came back. “Go ahead Lieutenant Prower.”

“Captain, the _Glowworm_ is requesting my presence to assist with a computer failure.” The fox explained. “IWO to IWO. Captain D’Coolette-”

“I understand.” Commander Keanne Zincks broke in. “If it’s severe enough to where their IWO’s calling for you and they haven’t stopped to reset then it’s necessary. We’ll come alongside and transfer you by umbilical. I’ll signal Captain D’Coolette.”

“Understood, Captain. Thank you.” Tails rose up to his feet.

“That is all, bridge out.” There was a click before the line went dead. The fox placed the handset back in place and stretched, kneeling down to get his go-bag ready. A portable workstation was the centrepiece of the kit, designed for security and adaptability. He always had the network cards out as a rule. Contained within it was a library of applications that were RSN standard as well as ones that he self-developed. The fox was a regular on IT social network hubs and development boards, publishing source code and completed builds for some of the tools that were approved for release into the civilian world. His main specialty though was malware and anti-malware operations. A good deal of that work was automated but as the saying goes, good artists borrow while great artists steal. 

Programs that wormed their way through the layers of security within the RSN networks generally ended up finding a layer that they couldn’t get through, ending up trapped in a honeypot, rendered inert and dumped. He liked to dumpster dive, performing digital autopsies on these failed attempts. Tails catalogued the exploits that they made use of, wrote patches to correct and shut down those exploits and also attempted to make a better version of the offending program, storing his version away in his MALAM library. Pirates, smugglers and the like typically used standard computer systems because their ships were off-the-shelf. His knowledge of those systems, how to both infiltrate, break and fix them was an asset and in a few cases kept the _Thunder Child_ from having to waste ammunition. As Sun Tzu once wrote: ‘To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.’ Those words became a mantra in his head after reading _The Art Of War_ at Britannia Royal Naval College. The red covered volume was also in his go-bag and made for good reading while waiting for a process to complete.

After checking everything over and zipping up the leather bag, Tails left the CIC, officially ceding control of his department to Chief Jago. He made his way through the destroyer where the umbilical connection would be made, and waited. Looking down at his watch, he checked the time and drummed his fingers against his left thigh. Suddenly the entire ship seemed to shudder and shake, and the lighting went from natural white to red. Grabbing a nearby red handset, the fox pressed it to his ear.

“Bridge? This is the IWO requesting a status check.” There was a low hiss and no answer. “Captain? XO? Anyone there?” Swallowing, Tails switched to the main voice/video circuit, closed his eyes and called out something he never thought he would have to declare.

“Action stations! Action stations! All hands man your action stations!” He heard his own voice echo. “This is the IWO, all hands man your action stations. This is not a drill! Department heads and executive personnel, please report to the IWO on this circuit.”

“Engineering reporting to IWO.” Commander Amelia ‘Amy’ Rose was the first to speak.

“Medical reporting to IWO.” Surgeon Lieutenant Christopher Thorndyke followed up.

“Supply reporting to IWO.” Lieutenant James Lowley reported.

“Security reporting to IWO.” Chief Petty Officer Tommy Williams, who was under the executive officer, Lieutenant William Bolton, added in.

“Gunnery reporting to IWO.” The gunnery representative was a rating that he didn’t recognise, which wasn’t unexpected.

“Torpedo reporting to IWO.” Another rating said.

“Missile reporting to IWO.” Came another.

“Very well. Engineering, we were hit by something?” Tails asked.

“Yes, Lieutenant. We took railgun fire and the bridge seems to have been holed. Emergency bulkheads came down as expected.” Commander Rose answered. “Damage control parties are on the way over there.”

“Medical, your priority is checking the bridge.” The fox ordered.

“On it, sir.” Thorndyke acknowledged.

“Sir, Gunnery. We were struck by the _Glowworm_.”

“Say again, Gunnery.”

“We were fired on by the _Glowworm_ and they’re still shooting at us.”

“Medical, what does telemetry say about the executive personnel?” Tails asked.

“Wait one-” There was a sound of keys being tapped. “Lieutenant, this doesn’t look good. Captain, PWO and OPS are all showing flatlines. XO’s telemetry is erratic.”

“Equipment failure?” The fox flickered his ears.

“No, sir. It is my medical judgement, pending confirmation that the Captain, XO, PWO and OPS are all either incapacitated or dead. Under naval regulations regarding the succession of command, you are now the acting commanding officer of HMSS _Thunder Child_ , Captain Prower.” Upon hearing those words, the eighteen-year old vulpine’s body seemed to feel icy.

“Very well. I am returning to CIC to fight the ship from there.” The fox switched back to the main circuit. “Crew of the _Thunder Child_ , this is acting captain Miles Prower. The next watch’s bridge crew is to _immediately_ report to me at CIC. Out.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

“I know this is something you’ve only encountered in the casualty control simulations.” Lieutenant Prower announced within the Combat Information Centre. “The CIC is now the backup bridge for the ship until repairs are completed.” Procedure called for certain stations to be shut down and retrofit within CIC for their new functions. Once Chief Jago announced that the communications masts had been shot off, the decision was easily made, the IW and EW stations would be the ones to go down, their functions could be carried on directly in the ship’s central computer room. Tails himself hooked up the joystick and throttle controls to his own station and verified operation before handing his station off to the relief helmsman. 

“They knew exactly where to hit us to make us incommunicado.” Chief Jago said, who drew on a nearby chalkboard a basic silhouette of the destroyer, making an ‘X’ mark through the communication masts. “ _ Glowworm _ is still shooting at us but their targeting is a bit more erratic.”

“They can’t fix on us as easily as when we were chirping.” Tails mused out loud. “They’ve got to be infected by some sort of malware. Captain D’Coolette should have let Rotor shut down the ship. The hell of it is,  _ why  _ haven’t they stopped?” The next question he had, he didn’t voice.  _ Do I shoot back? _ He grabbed his handset, still standing at his old station, swallowing. “Gunnery, conn.”

“Gunnery here, Captain.”

“You’re aware of where the sensor masts are on a G-class destroyer, correct?” The fox asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“How confident are you in destroying _Glowworm’s_ masts without damaging the rest of the ship?” Tails pressed.

“I think we can do it with a training rail, to be honest, sir.”

“Do it.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll put the order into the fire control computer. Shall I wait for your command to fire?”

“No. Fire as soon as you have a solution, out.” Tails set the handset down and walked over to his new station, punching up the feed from an external camera that provided a view of the foremost A turret. Small raindrop-like laser blasts were periodically scorching the reflective first layer of armour. The A turret turned to its proper bearing, set not to fire directly at where the  _ Glowworm _ was currently. Naval combat in space and on sea required one to  _ lead _ their target. Whatever that had control of the other destroyer wasn’t a very good navigator, the ship was still running in a straight line, albeit at full burn. Suddenly the fox saw a brief, bright flash as a small training rail fired from the A turret. Once the round was fired, all of the  _ Glowworm _ ’s guns seemed to turn on their sister ship and fire in earnest.

The ship seemed to roll erratically as it was hit by the full salvo fired at it. Prower fell to the floor and groaned, having landed directly on his tailbone. Clamoring back to his feet, he hurriedly punched up the last sensor readout taken of the  _ Glowworm _ . Internal temperature was down considerably from normal conditions. Too far down but not to the point where automated systems couldn’t function. Now it made sense as to why they simply didn’t stop firing with a system reset. There wasn’t anyone  _ alive _ to reset the system. Environmental control systems were deliberately manipulated to kill the crew. His protege, his friend was gone. Balling his hands into fists, the vulpinroid rose back up to his feet and marched back over to his old station, snatching up the handset.

“Torpedo, conn! Gunnery, conn! Dual-link.” The vulpinoid’s voice was raised.

“Torpedo here, sir.”

“Gunnery, sir.”

“Torpedo, place your tubes in command mode and fire on the  _ Glowworm _ .”

“Sir?”

“You heard me, mister. There’s no one left alive on that ship and it’s a threat. I don’t like it but that ship is hostile now. We took a bad hit and the only way we’re getting out of this and gaining them some payback is if we make it back home, alive. Gunnery?”

“-She’s rabid, sir. We’ll see to it that she’s put down humanely, sir.”

“Very well, out.” The fox slammed the handset down and then walked away from the stations, looking at the chalk drawing. Grimacing, he grabbed the chalk and closed his eyes, waiting. The next hit which rocked the ship, he managed to stay on his feet. He looked down at his watch and followed the seconds hand. One minute after another passed until another shock reverberated throughout the ship, this time a shockwave from a large explosion. He briefly glanced over at his station and saw the new sensor readout show all compartments of the destroyer in red. Without another word, he made a large ‘X’ through Jago’s drawing. There was no celebration, there was no whooping or hollering. This was not an enemy that they had killed but a friend, and it was a necessary kill. His first ship-to-ship kill, and it may not be his last.

“Sir.” Surgeon Lieutenant Thorndyke and Commander Rose had walked into the CIC, finding the vulpine. “We were able to get into the bridge. It’s-” The human sighed. “It’s not a good sight. Everyone on the bridge watch is dead. PWO and OPS are just well,  _ gone. _ ” Losing CO, XO, PWO and OPS like this was not something he was prepared for. But the reality of the situation was apparent when Thorndyke held out the lanyard that was formerly around Zincks’ neck, the one that held her keys and authenticator. Prower reached out and took the lanyard, put it over his head and slowly let it fall upon his neck.

“How bad off are we?” Prower asked, looking at Rose.

“The reactor’s taken a beating but the shielding is holding. There’s been no coolant leaks or signs of radiation leakage but I’ve put main engineering on radiation alert. No one goes in there without a suit. Life support systems seem to be okay as well but we’ve got problems with the main battery. Turrets B and Q aren’t working in the fore and neither is Y aft. Torpedo launchers are out as well. I would put it into the dock, Captain.” Rose advised. “The ARK would be in a better position to repair us in this state.”

“With our communications masts out, we can’t even request assistance.” Tails sighed. “What would you say to an EVA to figure out what’s wrong there?”

“I wouldn’t.” The pink hedgehog shook her head. “I’d make all speed for the ARK.”

“Commander.” He lowered his voice. “What would you say to wearing two hats?”

“Pardon me, sir?”

“You’re next in the line of succession, I could use you as an executive officer here.”

“Very well, sir.” The hedgehog’s smaller ears twitched. She then tilted her head to the door. “On that tack, let’s find a quiet space, Captain.”

“Very well Commander.” Tails stepped out behind the hedgehog who led him down a corridor and stopped. The twenty-four year old engineer lowered her tablet.

“I just want you to know that I’m behind you every step of the way. What you had to do there earlier, to sink the  _ Glowworm _ , it was necessary Captain.” Amy said softly. “That doesn’t mean you have to like it though. The crew is going to look to you to get us home so that we can tell higher command what happened. You’ll need to take care of yourself, to keep yourself in peak condition to do that. That doesn’t mean staying awake for twenty-four hours and barely eating. We’re out of the woods for the moment. You are entirely empowered to ignore this advice, but I’d follow my normal schedule.” The fox considered her words carefully with a nod.

“Very well, Commander. Once my watch is over, the ship is yours. Your first task will be to designate a deck officer to handle the ship for you when you have to go back to engineering. If there’s any major developments,  _ get me up _ . Am I clear?” Tails asked.

“Crystal, Captain.” The hedgehog answered.

“Also once we’re far enough away to have slipped past our attackers, I’ll want us at a dead stop to perform EVA repairs on the communication masts. It doesn’t have to be pretty. In fact, I only want voice transmission and reception. No data transmission, keep those down. That should be enough of a balance to get comms up to a minimum while allowing us to keep on our timetable.” The fox ordered.

“Very well, sir.”

“Carry on.” He looked down at his watch and rumbled softly. “I’ll be in my quarters after a bit.” With that, the fox stepped away. He made his way towards A deck which contained the bridge, but it was also where Commander Zincks’ stateroom was. After a short walk and ladder climb that took about five minutes, he found himself standing before the oak door. Separating the keyring from the lanyard, Tails unlocked the door and stepped into the dark room. He walked over to the wall near the captain’s small working desk and activated the authenticator on the lanyard. Command was ceded to him with Thorndyke’s confirmation in the central computer, so the authenticator accepted his retinal scan. With the authenticator, he obtained the combination for the safe, inserted the safe’s key, moved the dial to the right numbers, then turned the key before rotating the handle. Inside was paperwork, keycards and certain personal effects. He took them all in hand, intent on transferring them to his own room safe.

There was a soft whine which caught the vulpine’s attention. The captain’s Yorkshire Terrier, aptly and originally named Terry, was awake. The fox sighed and reached out with his free hand to pet the dog. After a few tongue lashings against his hand, he opened the tanuki’s nightstand drawer, finding the dog’s lead. Snapping it onto a ring on his collar, Tails gently tugged on the lead. “You can stay with me until we get back to the ARK. I’ll have to give you over to her family. M’wife says one dog is enough.” The dog made a soft whine, then barked at him before leading the way to the door.

With the dog in tow, he had to bypass ladders which made the journey down to his quarters a little bit longer. The tapping of the Yorkie’s claws against the deck reminded him of the ticking of a clock. Once he was in his own quarters, Tails opened up his safe and settled down into his desk chair, looking over the printout of their latest set of orders. Nothing that conflicted with what he recalled, except now they were turning back to Earth. He kept those orders out but stowed the rest of the effects into the safe. Next, he turned on the workstation and waited for it to boot as Terry jumped up into his lap. Looking up at him, the terrier leaned in and started to lap against his face. Unconsciously running his left hand along the dog’s back, scratching, the vulpine sighed and logged into his user account. Opening up the word processing application, he stared at the blank page. Sooner or later, he would have several letters to write. The kind of letters that start with ‘Much regret to inform you that-’. The question that dogged him though was how many more he would have to write within the next five days.

Holding the dog now with both hands, the fox rose up and walked over to his bed, settling down into it. He grasped the dial that controlled the brightness of the lamps in the room and turned it all the way down to zero. Rolling onto his side, he reached out and grabbed the single framed photograph that rested on his nightstand. A pregnant Maria in a white dress standing with him in his ceremonial dress uniform, holding his hands, the two at the steps that led to the main entrance at Britannia Royal Naval College. If this mission were a week or more later, it would be Maria who would be informing him about the bridge crew’s death, the one who would effect the transfer of command, and also sharing in the danger that they all faced. One shot in the wrong place in those conditions and his children would be orphans, virtually like how he was after his mother died. With a soft growl, he set the photograph back on the nightstand and rolled over onto his right side. He wouldn’t put them through that, he was coming home. They were all coming home.


End file.
